*Checks in*
How long has it been people? 'Bout a year? Give or take?
*Dodges the flaming couch*
Yes, I know, it's been a long time. Those of you who read Omen of Uncertainty will know that I was at least doing something...though for everything else...ugh...helicase, gyrase, ligase, tRNA, AUG, GUA, UGA...MotherdemandingIswitchtoComputerEngineeringeventhoughIpreferBiology...
It's been rough.
*Remembers that he also sold his soul to TV Tropes...curse you Green Phantom Queen!*
But, after much, blood, sweat, tears, and various *Censored*, I'm back! This Chapter's been a loooong time coming, with again, much blood, sweat, tears, and various *Censored*, though that last one actually ATE up time rather that be a productive usage of it. Let it be known that this time length has NOT gone to waste, aside from the *Censored*.
Part of this has to do with making sure that everything's decently outlined (Because lord...the second half was so bare and tripped over itself so much), and speaking of which, I am pleased to announce that this story now has a Technical/outline checking consultant (That's the title he prefers): Deadcoder of the Code Lyoko wikia! Here's a few words from him, so you know this story's not a flaming garbage heap!
Deadcoder: This fanfic is designed to have as many easter eggs as possible to CL and its prototyping. I approve. Also, insert dirty joke about me and Diego Mestanza here.
I'm also inclined, since I also sold my soul to them, to inform you that yes, Project Eradication is in fact, a thing, and now that summer is here (As of the time of this writing), and they are looking for prospective people! If you want to check them out, do so! If you don't...eh, I sold my soul twice, that makes me invulnerable to all manners of Abominations as they are forced to duke it out to claim me.
Code Lyoko does not belong to me, because if it did, then I would've greenlit a Season 5 and ordered the writers to wrap up the backstory so we wouldn't get...ugh...EVOLUTION...
Enjoy!
Garage Kids
File 4.2 – Settling into a Routine
The island hung over the city.
The streets were flooded with darkness…
An enigmatic figure covered in shadows towered before the samurai, geisha, and Cheshire cat, hands alight with energy.
A buzzing noise not unlike music filled the air, and did not seem to stop, despite no matter how hard he tried to block it out.
Wait a minute… Buzzing? Music? What the hell was going on?
Odd's eyes shot open, and he turned his head around his bed in confusion. The early morning rays of sunlight had started to filter through the window, and as Odd blinked and became more aware, realized that it had been the electronic alarm clock that was the source of the buzzing. The music was familiar, and Odd realized that it was from the Subdigitals, a band originating from Boulogne Billancourt.
Odd also realized that if the alarm clock was on, then that meant that it was time for him to wake up, and start his first classes at Kadic Academy.
Groaning as the electronic alarm clock continued blearing out "Break Away", Odd let loose a wide yawn, before looking down at Kiwi, who was sleeping on his own dog bed at the foot of Odd's. Odd managed a tired smile as Kiwi continued to sleep like well, a dog. Odd rubbed his head, thinking back to the strange dream he had earlier.
'Huh, that was weird. Eh, it was just a dream. Dreams are always weird.' He thought to himself, shoving the details of the dream out of his head. After all, what were the chances that it was important?
…It was then that Odd remembered that he now had Precognition powers, but he shoved those thoughts to the back of his head. No need to dwell on that now.
Across from Odd's bed, Ulrich woke up, groaning in annoyance as he rubbed his eyes, but as he rose from his bed, Ulrich started gagging. Opening his eyes and sniffing the air, Ulrich remembered why he was gagging in the first place. In the span of a second, Ulrich quickly jumped up from his bed, grabbed his toothbrush and towel, and sped out the door.
"Odd, next time, warn me that your feet smell worse than the town garbage dump!" Ulrich grumbled as he walked down the hallway at normal speed.
"I would've, but I thought you knew what you were signing up for!" Odd called out as he got up from his bed.
"Ugh…I need to find a nose plug AND a pair of earplugs." Ulrich silently groaned to himself as he walked down the hallway.
As Odd stretched his arms, a quick vision of Ulrich walking down the hallway flashed before him. Odd was able to hear Ulrich's wanting a nose plug and earplugs before the vision faded. Quickly, Odd blinked, and then rubbed his eyes.
"Another vision?" he mumbled before shrugging it off. "Hope that doesn't start becoming a problem..."
Odd grabbed his own towel and toothbrush and made his way down to the washrooms. Whistling a jaunty tune, Odd opened the door… only to instinctively stop mid-entrance and look around for bars of soap strategically planted on the floor, flying bras, or worst of all, the classic wet towel whip…much to the bewilderment of some of the boys, all of whom were either brushing their teeth calmly or taking a shower to shrug off the Monday morning exhaustion.
"Della Robbia, why're you walking around this place like it's a war zone?" Sebastian deadpanned, wearing nothing but his boxers as he spat out water into the sinks.
"Eh… it's a habit from home!" Odd explained, sheepishly rubbing his free hand behind his head.
"I can relate to that." Hugo replied dryly, sparing a look at Charlie, who looked up at his older brother innocently as he continued to brush his teeth.
What little conversation there was to be had soon faded as the melancholy of Monday sank in. Odd showered and brushed his teeth, and was exiting the bathroom, when…
"Belpois! GET OUT OF BED THIS INSTANT!" The voice of Jim roared at Jeremie, who had fallen asleep at his computer.
Odd blinked and turned around, looking to see if Ulrich was still in the bathroom. He wasn't, but Sebastian still was, having elected to brush his teeth first and then shower, and he was not pleased to see Odd halt like a car in the middle of traffic.
"Now what's going on?!" Sebastian barked, "I'd like to exit the bathroom Della Robbia, not hang around the morning sausage fest!"
"Oh, uh…hey, do you guys know where Ulrich went?" Odd asked awkwardly.
"Probably back to his room, he's gotten pretty fast recently." Amare, who had arrived late, replied casually. "Not like Jeremie, he's as late as ever."
"The pot calls the kettle black, uh, no pun intended." Sebastian commented, to which Amare responded with a nonchalant shrug.
"Which means that I should get him, or..." Odd began, only for Sebastian to cut in.
"Or Jim gets his hands on him. Now, can you do that? Or do I have to stand here all day, Della Robbia?"
"Going to get Einstein now!" Odd replied, rushing out of the bathroom as Sebastian rolled his eyes.
Anyone unfamiliar with the dorms room hallways would've gotten lost normally, but as Odd wandered the hallways, flashes of orange and brown danced around his eyes as his Anticipation power continued to activate, guiding him to where Jeremie's room was, telling him which route to use so that he could get there before Jim showed up. Odd should've just asked Ulrich to do it, but since the speedster had flashed out of the bathroom, and the other kids were still very suspicious of the events surrounding Xanadu, instinct told him to do the job of retrieving Jeremie. That being said, though, the constant visions were starting to make Odd feel dizzy. Regardless, Odd reached Jeremie's room and pounded on the door.
"Oi! Einstein! Wake up!"
A crash was heard inside the room, and Odd heard groaning. The groaning grew louder as Odd could hear equipment and books crash throughout the room as Jeremie got closer to the door. Opening it, he found Odd standing in front of him. Unlike the other kids, Jeremie was not wearing any semblance of pajamas, remaining in his day clothes. Imprints of the bespectacled boy's keyboard were very apparent on his forehead as he looked at Odd tiredly.
"What? What is it?" Jeremie yawned.
"Well, I had a vision of that Jim guy coming in here and chewing you out, and Ulrich was out of the bathroom, so, I figured I might as well warn you." Odd said.
Just as Odd finished explaining himself, right on cue, Jim appeared on the scene, coming up right behind the spiky-haired boy.
"Belpois! Why aren't you in the showers yet?! It's important that every student lather, rinse, and repeat in the morning and night!" the large man boomed.
"I'm heading there right now Jim." Jeremie said, stifling another yawn.
"Well, at least you aren't still asleep. If you were, I'd have to give you a lesson about what happens to people who sleep on the job! Like say, four hours of detention!" Jim said.
"Four hours?" Odd gasped. "Isn't that a bit much?"
Jim scoffed in disgust. "It's a perfectly reasonable punishment! I've seen the consequences of sleeping in before! I remember back when I was helping to stop a poacher named Pedro, one of the most dangerous Peruvian criminals of all time! We nearly lost him, but I caught him because one of his men slept on the job!"
Odd was puzzled. "Wait, why were you stopping a South American poacher? And what does that have to do with sleeping in?"
"Well, it's an incredible tale of friendship, adventure, and somewhat wholesome life lessons…but I've got to continue making sure that we don't have anyone sleeping in on a Monday, so I'd rather not talk about it." Jim answered. "Now, get yourselves down to the cafeteria! The day is young!"
And with that, Jim left.
Silence filled the room, which was broken as Jeremie let out another yawn. He turned around, and looked at his computer. Then, as if he had been struck by lightning, Odd watched Jeremie tense up, his eyes brightening with either inspiration, madness, or a combination of both (And considering what little Odd knew of Jeremie, he figured it was the third option, to be on the safe side), and rush over to his computer, typing in new code and clicking the enter key. Just as Odd turned around, hearing his stomach grumble for breakfast, he heard Jeremie holler and turned around to see the computer whiz jump with joy.
"YES! It works! It works!" Jeremie cheered.
"Um…what did you just do that worked?" Odd asked.
"Oh yeah! I need to tell you about a program I've been fixing up." Jeremie noted.
"The one that makes me look like a cat-man?" Odd asked.
"No, not the avatar program, that's working just fine, I meant the Super-scan." Jeremie answered.
"Super-scan?" Odd questioned. "What's that? A scan that's super?"
"Sort of!" Jeremie replied, oblivious to Odd's sarcasm and lack of knowledge on the subject. "The super-scan is a program that detects if a tower has been infected with specters or not. It helps warn us if we're dealing with a disturbance from Xanadu."
"Oh, that's nice…" Odd yawned, but then he blinked in confusion. "Wait…if you had a warning system, how come it wasn't working yesterday? Or the day this whole mess started?"
Jeremie was tidying up his desk as he answered. "Well, back when Xanadu was starting up, I didn't have a tower detection program available to me until I downloaded information from the supercomputer into my own devices. As to why it wasn't working when you arrived at Kadic, I checked up on the program while you and Sebastian were having your movie talk. The scan was bugged up, which corrupted my firewall and let the specters use my computer as an outlet. I spent the whole night fixing the bug and making sure that it doesn't happen again. Unfortunately, that required a lot of work…turns out the specters crashing into the towers has a detrimental effect on the program's integrity. I had to rewrite everything from scratch! I also took the opportunity to upgrade the scan, so now it can automatically tell us if a tower's been activated, instead of waiting for the Specters to settle in!"
"I, guess that makes sense." Odd replied, mind swimming as he tried to digest the information on an empty stomach. He had a bad feeling that this sort of explanation towards everything Xanadu-related was going to become routine.
Once Jeremie was up and about, Odd went back to his room, where Kiwi continued to sleep like, well, a dog. Odd noticed that Ulrich had already left, and got dressed. Once that was done Odd went down straight to the cafeteria, got his meal (consisting of three croissants, two bananas, hot chocolate, and a bowl of dipping milk with cocoa powder), and quickly started chowing down…his speed astounding Yumi, while Ulrich could've cared less.
"How can you eat that much?" Yumi asked, still having not gotten over seeing Odd's habits at dinner last night.
"It's breakfast, the most important meal of the day!" Odd protested, his mouth stuffed with croissant and banana, "a guy has to eat a lot to get ready!"
Yumi looked down at her tray, which simply consisted of a single croissant, an orange, and a dipping milk bowl.
"I'll…take your word for it." Yumi said, her mind drifting. "Now I wonder whose eating habits are worse, yours or Jeremie's."
"He barely eats anything to begin with." Ulrich noted, turning his head around to see Jeremie at the end of the lunch line, not really taking note of what was left of the available food.
"Ain't that the truth." An eavesdropping Amare chuckled as he passed by their table and sat down at his usual place.
"It's a big day for me, you know, new kid, trying to get used to his new life. You can't blame me for eating this much." Odd said as he stuffed a second banana into his mouth.
"Yeah…I get the feeling that that excuse is going wear thin REALLY fast." Yumi commented.
Odd chuckled, swallowing his food. "I'm a glutton, what can I say?"
"Nothing, preferably." Ulrich grunted, munching on his own croissant.
Odd shrugged. Breakfast was the priority right now, and he resumed scarfing down. After a few minutes, by which time Odd had nearly consumed everything on his plate, Jeremie sat down calmly, seemingly not bothered by the mess that was Odd's face.
"So, Odd, what's your schedule like?" Jeremie asked, sipping his hot chocolate.
"Itsehuh, le'mm sh'ee…" Odd said with his mouth full, straining to remember.
"Ugh…Odd, your face…your mouth." Yumi groaned in disgust, pointing at her face to indicate that Odd was a mess.
Odd blinked, swallowed, and quickly wiped his face. He took a deep breath as he tried to remember.
"Last I checked, it was Science with Susanne Hertz first period, then gym class with well…Jim for second period, after that it's uh, trying to remember, oh yeah, Math with Brigitte Meyer, History with Giles Fumet, Lunch, Music with Marco Mirti, English with Rachel Kensington, Art with Mr. Chardin, and finally, Italian with Angelo Caggia. After that, dinnertime. Why do you need to know that?"
Yumi coughed briefly, causing Odd to realize the idiocy of his question. The others were trying to figure out how to fit his schedule into the 'Saving the World from an evil computer virus' mission.
"N-never mind." He said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Let's see, our schedules don't completely synch up together…" Jeremie murmured thoughtfully. "We do share Science, Gym, History, Art, and Italian…at least on my end."
"I don't see you for two classes." Ulrich informed Odd. "Music and Italian."
"Four for me." Yumi replied. "Gym, History, Music, and English."
"Oh, we'll also need your contact information." Jeremie said, pulling out his cell phone, prompting the others to do the same. The group quickly exchanged numbers.
"Well…anything else you guys need me to do right now?" Odd asked. "I'm in need of seconds."
"…You still want seconds after eating that much?" Yumi asked incredulously.
"Of course!" Odd replied, walking over to the line. "I can't skip out on a meal!"
Ulrich raised an eyebrow stoically, before sighing in resignation. He supposed that there were stranger and worse people in the world. "You go do that." He deadpanned.
Odd whistled a jaunty tune as he prepared to re-enter the line, only for his sight to turn orange, and a disorientating feeling, as if he was falling to the ground, flashed before his eyes. Odd blinked and paused, looking around the room, only to see that someone had spilled their milk and a banana peel on the floor. Odd wisely scooted around the spill and proceeded on his way.
'Well, that was convenient.' Odd thought to himself as he ordered his second helping.
And yet, he still felt a bit more disoriented than he had earlier that morning…and a nagging worry began to build in the back of Odd's head.
Classes were normal, to Odd's surprise. For a moment the nagging worry that he had that something along the lines of 'Wacky Hijinks' might ensue remained…but nothing of the sort happened. For now, it seemed that his Anticipation power would remain in check. It did activate at times that caught him off-guard, but the events being predicted were, for the most part, mundane, and so he was able to shrug them off. Of course, the dizziness that followed had gotten him in trouble from Jim during second period, but considering the man's teaching methods, Odd had not been the only one on the receiving end of Jim's rants that day and so he wrote off as nothing to worry about.
Speaking of Jim, Odd was able to form a decent first impression of his teachers up 'till lunchtime. Honestly, most of them weren't exactly stand-outs besides Jim and Mrs. Hertz. She displayed a sort of passion for her subject matter not too dissimilar to Jeremie (Which probably explained why she called on him most of the time, to Odd's relief, because he was equally clueless concerning Photosynthesis as he was with Jeremie's Technobabble), but Mr. Fumet and Mrs. Meyer didn't really stand out, aside from both being rather dry and strict, with Mr. Fumet being more on the 'dry' side of things, and Mrs. Meyer on the 'strict' side.
But overall, classes were…normal. Nothing really bad…aside from the homework load. But still…normal. As if there wasn't the overhanging threat of demonic artificial intelligences from an unstable virtual world.
Kiwi let out a small doggy yawn…and then realized that he was in desperate need of relieving himself and to stretch his legs. He needed to go out…but where was his owner? Where was Odd? The little mutt began howling and running around…he really needed to go…
Odd's eyes snapped open and as he left Mr. Fumet's class he searched for Ulrich, and immediately ran over to him.
"Ulrich! I need you go on ahead of me!" Odd said desperately.
"…Why?" Ulrich asked.
"Kiwi's awake and he needs to go! I just saw him! I know what's going to happen if he's cooped up in there for too long! He's…" Odd began, but before he finished, Ulrich had turned around a corner and vanished.
Odd gave a panicked yelp, and ran towards his room. He needed to get to Kiwi and fast. His vision blurred and turned orange as he ran through hallways and up the stairs. His surroundings seemed to jump in front of him at every corner. He thought he ran into a wall, but in reality, Odd was still in the middle of a hallway. He thought he saw Jim yelling at him not to run…but when he opened his eyes, he instead found himself in front of his room, or was it Jeremie's room? Wait, why was he in the bathroom? Why was a stranger coming near Kiwi? Why? What? Who? Where? Huh?
"AGH!"
Odd groaned as he found himself at the bottom of the stairwell leading to the dorms, having tripped over the very first step.
"What the hell was that?" he groaned, closing his eyes in pain.
"RUFF! RUFF!"
Odd opened his eyes to see Kiwi right up in his face, licking him all over. "Agh! All right, all right Kiwi, I'm here, I'm here!"
Ulrich walked down the stairs, eyebrows raised at the scene before him
"You okay?" he asked.
"Ugh…yeah, I guess." Odd said, rubbing his elbows. The impact didn't hurt as much as he had expected to, but it still smarted.
"Um…are you alright?" a voice asked. Odd looked up to see Milly and Tamiya walking towards him, the former carrying a notepad and pencil, and the latter holding a video camera.
"What? Me? Oh yeah! I'm fine! 100% ready and waiting!" Odd replied, standing up quickly to Kiwi's excitement.
"Really? Because it looked more like you were either drunk or having a mental breakdown." Tamiya deadpanned.
"Wait, what?" Odd asked.
"Here," Tamiya replied, showing Odd the camcorder.
Odd looked at the footage, and his jaw fell to the ground as he saw himself running through the hallways like a jackass. It looked like he was having a seizure or some kind of psychosis episode as he ran through the hallways as if he had gone blind and insane at the same time. Odd watched in dread as he made a fool of himself in front of several classmates, whose snickers and gossip were very evident in the video recorder, which of course had sound enabled. Odd's heart sank as he saw numerous attractive girls in the video have looks on their faces that ranged from disgust to bewilderment to laughing sadism. Well, that just sank numerous, if not all, of his dating opportunities, joy.
"So…do you mind telling us what happened for the Kadic News?" Milly asked, very eager to write about the school suddenly having an apparent lunatic.
"Wait, what? N-no!" Odd stammered "I just panicked about leaving my dog alone in his room! That's it!"
"Are you suuuuure?" Milly droned, eyes bright in anticipation of a scoop.
"Milly, leave the new guy alone." Yumi deadpanned, walking up to the group. "If someone doesn't want to be interviewed, you should respect their privacy."
"But…" Milly tried, only for Kiwi to begin growling at the young girl. He could sense that she was trouble to his owner. Milly wasn't about to be scared by a small mutt and opened her mouth to try another retort…only to be subjected by a hard glare from Ulrich, which was magnitudes more frightening.
Tamiya sighed and shut off the camera. "Come on, Milly, we'll find something else to write about. Besides, I need to replace the SD card."
Milly pouted as Tamiya led her friend up the stairs. Ulrich watched as the two sank out of sight, while Yumi looked at Odd as if the boy's cat-ears had suddenly become part of his real-world self.
"…So…what WAS that all about?" Yumi asked Odd.
"Are you sure they can't see us from here?! Ulrich's looking at us like a hawk!" Milly whispered.
"Positive," Tamiya whispered back, "we'll figure out what's going on in no time!"
"Can we talk on the way to the lunchroom?" Odd asked, "I don't think we want Kiwi going Number 1 or 2 on the floor."
"Gross!" Milly gagged from above.
"Milly!" Tamiya hissed in alarm.
"Really, you two?" Yumi asked, shaking her head, "Give the guy some space!"
The point was accentuated by the sound of Ulrich cracking his knuckles, causing both girls to squeak in panic as the three Xanadu Warriors left for the courtyard. Once they were sure that they were in the clear, Yumi asked Odd about what had happened once again, to which Odd responded with:
"Well…I think my Future Flash is getting out of hand."
Yumi raised an eyebrow, while Ulrich remained stone-faced. "Wait, so, you can't control it?"
"For some reason ever since I got the damn power, I can't!" Odd groaned. "It wasn't so bad when I first got it and after we got out of Xanadu yesterday, but ever since this morning it's been activating at random all the time! I just got hit with like…I don't know, twenty different visions at the same time, and I don't know why!"
"Is that why you went running down the halls like that?" Yumi asked.
"I…guess, I mean, I just didn't want Kiwi getting out of hand! I panicked, and then…boom!" Odd replied. "Speaking of Kiwi, please tell me nothing bad happened!"
"I opened the door and he just ran out of the room." Ulrich revealed. "I did see him coming close to my bed though." Ulrich took a look at the little dog, who had run over to a tree to relieve himself, and was endlessly thankful for Super-Sprint. Otherwise, he would've had to sleep on wet bedsheets tonight, just yet another downside to having a roommate.
"Phew." Odd breathed in relief, only to realize something.
"Wait…how come the paparazzi didn't see you zooming away?"
"Again, there's the less-crowded hallways and sneak-in routes. Not a lot of people use them when classes get out and the main hallways get congested," Ulrich replied, "it's sort of a crowd mentality that I don't like dealing with it."
"But still…those rampant visions could be a problem." Yumi mused. "Ulrich and I never have had that kind of control issue with our powers. They came by pretty naturally."
"Which is all great for you two, but not much help for me! And now the whole school's going to think I'm some kind of crazy person! All of my wit and charm's been flushed down the toilet because of this!"
"…AKA your dating plans?" Ulrich deadpanned.
"YES!" Odd groaned. "They've all been kiboshed! Torn apart! Gone totally white! Please tell me Einstein has the answer to this mess!"
"We'll see…" Yumi replied, not sure how to deal with this current conundrum.
"That's really reassuring." Odd grumbled.
After Kiwi had finished his walk, Ulrich and Yumi left for the cafeteria and Odd took him back to the room, whereupon the little dog went back to sleeping. Unfortunately, the cafeteria was crowded by the time Odd got there, and with the other children keeping a very close eye on Odd as if he'd grown a second head, there was no way he could pose any questions to Jeremie, so he just focused on eating. Odd tried glaring at the hecklers, but that accomplished squat, much to his dismay. At the very least, it seemed that Ulrich's Death Glare was intimidating enough that things didn't get physical, but Odd could still hear the whispering of gossip and mocking laughter echo throughout the lunchroom.
Odd could not believe that, for once, he would be GLAD to go class. That would never have happened back home.
He could still hear occasional snickering, but Mr. Mirti ordered everyone to shut up and listen to his flute playing. Odd was glad to have attention get diverted from him for once, yet another change he'd have to get used to at Kadic. But not everyone was focused on the music teacher. Odd noticed how Hugo seemed to stare at him, and remembered Jeremie's warnings about the cap-adorned boy. Great. Odd was familiar enough with classroom gossip patterns to know that within a week, some other schmuck would screw up and become the new talk of the school, but that meant nothing to an overprotective big brother who was hot on Odd's trail.
English was unremarkable, aside from occasional flashes of Mrs. Kensington's readings giving Odd an auditory sense of Déjà vu.
Now, however, was the class that Odd was actually looking forward to: Art. He had already met Mr. Chardin yesterday, and the man was notably supportive of Odd's artistic preferences, while Sebastian still had a passive-aggressive view about Odd's philosophical intentions. The old man had informed Odd about a project that he was going to reveal to the class on Monday…but refused to elaborate.
Once everyone had taken a seat, Odd noticed that Sebastian was seated one desk behind him. Well…that was either coincidence or deliberate, though since Kadic didn't seem to enforce assigned seating, it was probably the latter. Odd didn't have much time to prepare though, as Chardin began to speak.
"Now then, class, I would like to inform you that the time has begun for the semester project. You will have up until the end of the week to submit to me what your subject medium will be. I have a basic set of guidelines for you all to follow depending on the category that you select." Chardin then switched to a new PowerPoint slide displaying the types of art projects that were allowed to be submitted.
Odd looked at one of the projects, and his eyes lit up once he saw the category of 'Animation'.
"This project will be worth 25% of your final grade, by the way." Chardin put in, much to the collective groans among the class.
"Animation, eh…" Odd mumbled to himself.
"Now then, we will be continuing facial sketches today, as such…" Chardin explained, his lecture becoming white noise as the class began to draw.
Or, in Odd's case, tried to draw. Because of course Future Flash would activate in the one class that he actually liked. He couldn't stop the stream of visions that kept on popping up in his face. One moment he would see a blank piece of paper, and the next, a sketch in progress, before it returned to being blank. Odd rubbed his head trying to recover, but it was no use. His progress was being stymied, and he had only managed a bare rough by the time class was over, much to Chardin's disappointment.
"I expected more from you Mr. Della Robbia. I could tell from yesterday that you have just as much latent talent as Sebastian, and yet this is what you submitted?"
"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again." Odd said sheepishly.
Sebastian looked over Odd's shoulder, and then at Odd himself. Perhaps he would not have to wait as long as he feared. Things were moving faster than he thought. Still though, the artist in him expressed bewilderment about how Della Robbia hadn't even finished a simple sketch, while the cautionary street wanderer added another oddity (Oh yay, ANOTHER pun for the day), to the mental list.
Italian was nothing worth worrying about. It was Odd's native tongue, and he sped through it with ease. At least there was one silver lining today. Even so, Odd exited the classroom, sighing in defeat about the day's mess. He then felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Jeremie looking at the day's homework assignment, a vocabulary worksheet.
"Hey, Odd, mind helping me out with this? Like I said yesterday, Italian's not my best subject. Can't even string two words together."
"Uh, sure…but uh…" Odd began, but Jeremie interrupted him.
"Great! Let's go!"
Odd watched as Jeremie walked into the courtyard. He really couldn't wrap his head around the guy…which was honestly saying a lot. Regardless, after a quick look around to make sure that Hugo and Sebastian (And/or the paparazzi) weren't around, Odd quickly followed Jeremie, who walked over to the center of the school's quadrangles. There, Odd could see Ulrich and Yumi next to a set of vending machines, the two looking around the courtyard like sentries. Ulrich nodded at Odd when he and Jeremie got there and tossed him a can of soda.
"So…" Jeremie said once the group had settled in. "I've heard something about Odd's powers getting out of control. Explain it to me."
"I've been receiving out-of-control visions all day and my most recent set just made me out to be some kind of crazy person!" Odd exclaimed. "Do you need more explaining than that?!"
"Just wanted to know exactly what's going on." Jeremie said, raising his hands calmly as he pushed his glasses into place.
Odd took an angry swig of soda, downing the can in one go. "Can you at least tell me why this is happening? Ulrich and Yumi don't have any problems with their powers…and for some reason, I do! I'd like an explanation please, Einstein!"
Jeremie put his hand to his chin, deep in thought.
"Like I said before, the powers in Xanadu are derived from your subconscious like your avatar is, so-"
"Not important!" Odd cut in.
Jeremie raised an eyebrow. "It kind of is. The powers you get in Xanadu manifest from your subconscious, just like your avatar."
"So deep down I want to get slammed with constant visions like a crazy person?!" Odd asked in disgust.
"No, no." Jeremie replied, remaining calm. "That being said, your power does work differently from Ulrich and Yumi's. Granted, that might be more because we have a small sample size, so-"
"I've got a simpler idea. Follow me." Yumi interrupted, knowing fully well that Jeremie was about to ramble instead of giving a succinct explanation.
Jeremie looked a bit miffed as his observations were cut off, but Ulrich seemed to have the same idea as Yumi did and walked after her.
"Come on, we're going to train. You're coming with us for sparring." Ulrich gestured to Odd, whose eyes widened.
"Um, wait, what? I don't-" Odd stammered, only to find himself walking forward against his will. Odd looked and saw Yumi focusing her gaze at him, and gulped.
"You can watch if you want to Jeremie." Yumi called out.
Jeremie rubbed his temples. "I'll pass. But…wait…yeah…okay…" he seemed to have an idea, "if you guys can record the whole thing and show it to me, I can explain this to Odd better."
"How?" Odd asked, bewildered by Jeremie's return to thought.
"Just come on." Ulrich said, "Don't have Yumi waste her energy."
"Alright, alright." Odd grumbled. "But you'd better be able to explain this, Einstein!"
"I should be able to!" Jeremie said earnestly.
"Wait, really?" Odd asked. "I would've thought that you weren't going to make any promises."
Jeremie rose an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I? I think I've got a good idea about what your problem might be, but some observational data would confirm it. Until then, good luck."
And before Odd could get anything else out of Jeremie, he felt the pull of Yumi's Telekinesis and watched as Jeremie slipped away. Sighing, Odd started walking under his own power. Of course, Jeremie's wishing of good luck put Odd on edge, and the same sense of danger that he had felt all day quickly started to return to him.
"Is this really necessary?" Odd asked as he followed Ulrich and Yumi into the gymnasium.
"If we want to find a way for you to control your Anticipation power, what better way than by forcing you to think on your feet?" Yumi answered rhetorically, pulling out her cell phone and switching the video function on.
"Well yeah…but you two are the martial arts people!" Odd protested. "Plus, you guys have physical combat powers! Super Speed and Telekinesis!"
"Telekinesis is technically a psionic ability like Anticipation." Yumi pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but it's like the Force! Mine is the kind of power you get in horror movies!" Odd continued to say.
"Two things," Ulrich said sharply, getting into a combat stance, "One, my power is called Super-Sprint. And two, stop whining and get into position."
"…If I said I'd look into a way to control my foot stench would you go easy on me?" Odd gulped.
"If we weren't dealing with a haunted computer, I'd say yes. But we are, so no." Ulrich replied.
"Great…" Odd groaned.
Taking a deep breath, Odd tried to get into a combat stance. Screaming an exaggerated battle cry, Odd put himself in a stance that made him look like a tiger standing on its hind legs, ready to pounce…Is what could be said if Odd actually knew what he was doing. A trained individual might've been able to pull it off…but a neophyte who had never studied any form of martial arts would just look like an idiot.
And like most such idiots, Odd was helpless against someone who was training in combat, and before he knew it, Ulrich quickly swung his leg out before Odd could even attempt a reaction and sent the purple-shirted boy falling towards the floor.
"AHH!" Odd cried out in surprise as he fell.
Luckily, Odd never got a chance to meet the ground, as Yumi was already holding him in midair with a telekinetic grab.
"…I'm going to guess you didn't see that one coming?" Yumi asked.
"Uh…no." Odd replied, stunned at the swiftness of Ulrich's attack. "C-can we go a little slower?" he asked, "I'm not used to fighting Bruce Lee."
"No." Ulrich deadpanned. "Get back into position."
Odd next attempted to copy Ulrich's stance, and once again, the world turned a deep orange as Ulrich attacked Odd with a flurry of punches. Odd blinked, and thought that he was ready for the attack…but just as everything went back to normal Odd found himself being pummeled regardless before he even had a chance to dodge!
"BLAGH! AGH! GAH!" He cried with each and every consecutive blow.
"You didn't see that one coming?" Ulrich asked as Odd lay on the floor coughing.
"I DID!" Odd gasped. "But you're too damn fast! I didn't even have a chance to dodge that! Did you just use Super Sprint on me?!"
"That's my normal speed." Ulrich deadpanned. "Try again."
"And get beaten to pulp a third time?!" Odd spluttered. "Hell no!"
Yumi sighed. "Ulrich, hold my phone, I'll see if I can get better results."
"Wait, better results?" Odd asked. "What do you mean…by…oh…"
Yumi levitated her phone over to Ulrich, who was watching the scene with a look that could've passed for intrigue. But for Odd, it was anything but intriguing as he saw what else Yumi was levitating. Several small, black, marble-like spheres, which were orbiting around her left hand at an alarming speed and glowing blue. It was then that the world went orange, and everything around Odd spun as he tried to see where the attacks were coming from…to no avail. The marble things didn't hurt nearly as bad as Ulrich's fists…but they kept on hitting Odd at a far faster pace and didn't give him a chance to dodge or catch them. Odd tried to see where they would hit him…but for every marble he found, three others would catch him by surprise.
Odd opened his eyes and saw Yumi swing her arm, mentally commanding the orbs to attack. Odd desperately tried to remember what he had seen…Only for the vision to repeat itself, leaving Odd to lie down on the floor once again.
"Well…that didn't work." Yumi noted, to which Ulrich only gave a nod.
"Okay, screw this!" Odd yelled, getting up angrily. "I am NOT going to spend my evening getting beaten up by a martial artist and a bunch of marbles!"
"Prayer beads, actually." Yumi corrected, though this didn't diminish Odd's irritation in the slightest.
"Tomato, Toh-mato!" Odd growled. "But I am NOT in the mood to get covered in bruises…and on a Monday no less!"
"We just got started!" Yumi protested, but Odd wasn't having any of it.
"Uh, uh, no way! You guys want me to able to help you out in Xanadu, that's fine, but I'm not going to get beaten to a pulp before I go there!"
And so Odd stormed out of the gymnasium, hands tucked angrily in his pockets.
"…That could've gone better." Ulrich noted.
"You think?" Yumi asked as Ulrich handed her phone back to her. "At least we got some video footage. Hopefully when Jeremie explains it to him, he won't go off on a tangent. Again."
"I still can't tell if he was trying to explain that Superscan to us or was just rambling about how he thinks the Specters get made…" Ulrich muttered.
Yumi nodded in agreement, arranging the prayer beads back onto their string.
Odd fumed as he went up to his and Ulrich's room, though the walk thankfully came with no visions. Was his reaction a bit over-the-top? Maybe, probably…but he was NOT built as a fighter. A runner and a dodger maybe, but not a fighter like Yumi and Ulrich were. He was not in the mood to get beaten up. As Odd pulled out a piece of paper and a graphite pencil, he continued to think back to Xanadu…and by extension the dream he had. That vague, strange dream that he couldn't fully remember…
For one, Odd was reminded of the video games he had played back home (And brought with him, because why not?), particularly the RPGs, where you had to level up your character as you progressed through. He mulled over how, considering that Xanadu was very much like a video game (Aside from the fact that if you died, it was for real), if Ulrich and Yumi were about, maybe Level 15, Odd was still just Level 1, or 2, at best. Perhaps that difference would've lit a fire under someone else and convince him or her to level-grind…but Odd had only needed to experience combat training from Yumi and Ulrich for just a few minutes to get the hell out of dodge. He'd wanted an answer to his rampant visions, not a beating from two people far more powerful than him (Or, continuing the video game analogy, people with a higher level than him).
For an example of such a vision, he kept trying to push out the ominous image that was now popping up. That strange…dark figure that kept appearing before him…
The key word being, of course, trying.
By the time Odd looked at his phone and saw that it was now dinnertime, he looked at his work…and saw that he had ended up sketching a vaguely humanoid mass of black cloth and strings caressed around a plethora of wires and cables of varying sizes. Odd blinked, took a second look at the picture, and tried to remember exactly why he had drawn something so dark…but found no real memories, except for the vision, as if he had been subconsciously invoking the ominous figure's image.
Odd looked at the picture, perhaps a bit longer than he would have preferred, and immediately ran out of the room.
"Well…that was creepy." He muttered to himself.
When Odd got to the cafeteria, he saw that Ulrich and Yumi were standing there.
"What do you two want now?" Odd asked.
"We sent the footage to Jeremie." Yumi explained. "He'll be giving you an explanation first thing tomorrow. And you're booked for another training session."
"NO." Odd shot out.
"In Xanadu." Yumi clarified. "Jeremie has this idea that you'll feel more comfortable there, but he said that he'll explain more tomorrow evening."
"…How is a change scenery going to help me?!" Odd asked.
Yumi shrugged. "Again, you'll have to ask Jeremie."
It was then that Ulrich spoke up. "Also, if you want to sit by yourself, then you should know that Sebastian and Hugo aren't going to be leaving you alone."
Odd opened his mouth to retort, only for…
"Alright Della Robbia, out with it." Sebastian ordered, having cornered Odd at his lone table. "What the hell's going on? Why were you spazzing out like one of those painted alley dance robots on drugs?"
"You're hiding something." Hugo threatened, adjusting his cap over his eyes and cracking his knuckles. "And if you think I'm just going to sit by and let it kill me and my brother, you've got another thing coming, bub."
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way Della Robbia." Sebastian said. "Which would you prefer?"
Odd groaned from having another vision, sweat dripping from his forehead. He took a deep breath as he steadied himself.
"…Ugh…fine…" Odd groaned. "Just keep them off my back for now. I just want to go to bed at this point."
Ulrich and Yumi nodded in silence. True to their word, they kept an eye out for the prying eyes of Sebastian and Hugo, while Milly and Tamiya stared intently. That being said, there was one element missing from the dining table…Jeremie. When Odd inquired as to where he was, Yumi replied, "Again, Jeremie's not big on eating whenever he starts working. I doubt that he'll be coming to dinner tonight."
A lightbulb went on in Odd's head. "Does that mean I can have his portion?"
Ulrich nodded, and Odd scampered into line, the thought of more food helping to brighten his mood a tad.
"…If he comes to movie night, he brings his own food." Sebastian told Yumi. "I'm not pulling extra money out of my pockets to fuel that black hole Della Robbia has for a stomach."
Hugo grumbled, muttering to himself, prompting Amare to put a firm hand on his shoulder. Ulrich couldn't tell what Hugo was muttering, but the constant glares he was shooting at Sebastian, Yumi, Odd and himself gave Ulrich a good guess.
"We'll tell him that when he gets here." Yumi said.
Sebastian sighed, and went back to his own meal. Be patient. They'd slip up eventually.
The rest of the dinner passed by with no incident, thought Odd groaned at automatically being banned from eating food, a stance that Sebastian was firm on. Thankfully, the majority of the night passed by with no real issues, until…
Ulrich was just pulling out his new pair of earplugs and a noseplug, when he glanced at Odd's sketch and looked at it. Picking it up, Ulrich examined it closer…and felt a strange…pull towards it, though he didn't know why. Odd had just put on his pajamas and patted a still sleeping Kiwi down when he saw Ulrich's interest.
"You're looking at the thing I drew earlier?" Odd asked.
"Yeah." Ulrich nodded, being reminded of the forces of Xanadu. "What IS this thing? Some kind of big mega-specter?"
"I honestly have no clue what I was going for when I made that drawing. I…think I was channeling one of my dreams earlier…but I've got no clue. Something similar happened in art class earlier…though this time I actually GOT a picture done."
Ulrich looked at the picture again, shrugged, and put it down on the desk, heading off to sleep, guarded from Odd's snoring and feet.
But as for Odd…
Damn it, it was so difficult keeping track of just what there was to fight right now. It wasn't simple back then…but it was CAKE compared to…this. At least back then…they knew what they had to fight for. Now…they weren't so sure.
Or, at least he wasn't so sure, since at this point it was likely that the darkness below them, above them, and what surrounded them had already achieved what it desired.
He looked constantly for another attack, hearing the samurai and the geisha scream as they continued their assault. Not that it was doing much good. They were keeping her at bay…but slowly but surely, she advanced on them like a growing wildfire.
He turned around, and saw the tentacles just in time. He timed his jumps, barely dodging them as they dug into the ground. Like he said, it was difficult keeping track of how she was attacking.
Then he heard a roar, and saw a black beast covered in metal lunge at him, a blast being charged in its mouth, which looked like a strange combination of a beak and a dragon's maw. He quickly fired a volley of darts at its vulnerable point, and the monster screamed in agony as the blasts exploded in its mouth, destroying it.
He got down briefly, just needing to catch his breath…when he looked up and saw the white gleam of the gigantic scythe coming down on him. He rolled out of the way just in time, and looked at the weapon's wielder with a hard glare. His eyes then widened with horror at what he saw, or rather…what he could NOT see.
…Why the hell couldn't he make out her face? It was covered in pixels, and it seemed that her hair had turned to long tendrils of static! Why? He knew her name! He knew what she looked like! He knew who and what she was! That was-
Another swing of the scythe…and Odd found himself surrounded by dishes and dishes of meatballs and gravy yet again.
"Gah!" Odd cried, getting up with a shock, causing Kiwi to jump off the bed and bark at his owner angrily.
"Ugh…sorry Kiwi…" Odd yawned, juuust as the alarm clock went off again.
"Again, with that dream…" Odd said, but just like before, he couldn't remember any of it in detail. All he remembered was the figure he drew yesterday…but…different? Maybe?
Odd got out of bed, and saw that Ulrich was still sleeping.
"Guess that stuff did the trick." Odd mumbled as he shook Ulrich awake.
"Wh-what?" Ulrich asked drowsily, taking out his ear-plugs.
"Time to get up again." Odd yawned.
Ulrich grunted, but just like yesterday, quickly sped out of the room…which again reminded Odd of how he had ended up with the power that was currently proving to be way more damn trouble than it was worth.
"Einstein said he had an answer. Hopefully I can understand it." Odd sighed to himself. "One day in and I'm already sick of all of this!"
But Jeremie remained tight-lipped. During breakfast, he put a finger up to his lips and refused to answer Odd's questions. So did Yumi and Ulrich. Odd opened his mouth to protest, but…
"Come on, I need answers now, Einstein!" Odd complained, a bit too loudly. "You know the second day's always the weird one!"
"And…what would that weird stuff needing an answer be, anyways?" Hugo asked, surprising Odd by showing up out of nowhere.
And so, Odd just satisfied himself by stuffing as much croissant bread into his mouth as possible. Damn it, why was it so much of a hassle to maintain a secret identity?
Science went by okay…but it soon became clear that Odd would need help sooner rather than later once second period started up.
"Today, we will be practicing indoors!" Jim announced as everyone gathered. "Today's agenda after warm-ups is the wall!"
"The wall?" Odd whispered.
Ulrich nodded, gesturing over to the large rock wall at the end of the gymnasium.
"Oh… well that seems straightforward." Odd grinned, feeling that he was in his element.
But sadly, Odd Della Robbia had yet to truly learn the lesson of tempting fate.
Warm-ups went by with no problems…and so Odd thought for a moment that he wouldn't have to deal with the visions since mundane things had gone by with no problems. But as the class transitioned to the wall, Odd was one of the first people Jim called up.
"Della Robbia, front and center! You're first on the wall!" Jim ordered.
Odd nodded, stretched, and began to climb. At first, it went by well, with Odd using his natural flexibility from his svelte (NOT scrawny, like he always had to tell people) body to climb up the wall at a fast pace. Nothing was going wrong, the climb had no problems, and Odd felt like he was in his element. But it was not the climb that it happened…it was at the top.
Odd had just climbed over, when…
"AHHHH!" he cried out in alarm, toppling over at the top, at an awkward angle.
"AHHH!" Odd cried out in alarm, trying to keep his balance at the top…but to no avail. He found himself toppling over at an awkward angle, heading straight for the mats!
Almost instinctively, Odd barely managed to correct the angle, and found himself landing on the ground on all fours like a cat.
Of course, said bestial position and the circumstances for it were…well…
"HAHAHAHAHA!" a majority of the class laughed.
Odd's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he got up.
"What the heck was that about Della Robbia?" Jim asked. "What? Did you see a spider or something?"
"No." Odd grumbled as he sulked away.
The class was still giggling, but as Hugo was called up, Odd caught another suspicious glare being aimed at him from the boy. He sat down on the floor as Hugo began to climb the wall, only for Ulrich and Jeremie to scoot next to him.
"…Soo…" Jeremie began.
"It happened again." Odd grumbled through grit teeth.
"I thought so. Time to end this." Jeremie sighed.
"End what?" Odd asked.
"The school day. Give me until the end of class, and we'll be fixing your random vision quests!" Jeremie replied.
"…How?" Odd asked, only for Ulrich to put a hand on his shoulder.
"Trust me, you don't want to know." Ulrich deadpanned.
Now annoyance gave way to nervousness. And yet, for some reason, Odd didn't have a vision related to whatever Jeremie was going to do. Of course, the one-time his power might end up being handy after it went wild it didn't activate! He looked for a sign of what Jeremie was planning…but only caught the bespectacled boy sneaking his phone out for a few seconds, before hastily putting it back before Jim's attention turned from Ulrich to him. There was nothing Odd could do now, but wait for class to end.
The bell rang, and gym ended, with Odd preparing to head over to his next class, when the sound of a muffled bang rang throughout the sports field.
"Look at that!" a voice called out.
Odd saw people leaving their classes gathering around the sight of escaping steam from a room next to the gymnasium.
The sports-field of Kadic, much like the cafeteria, was one of the few areas that had not been badly affected by the post-Billancourt Panic rebuilding, if at all. The basic configuration of the buildings surrounding it had remained the same, though the buildings themselves had been rebuilt into the new aesthetic. As such, the school's boiler room was still located next to the gymnasium, and it was from here that the blast had originated from.
Odd's heart began to race. Was it another specter attack? So soon? No, no, he wasn't ready for this. Not at all, and in fact…
Jeremie put a hand on Odd's shoulder. "I think that should do it."
Odd spun around and looked at Jeremie incredulously.
"What? Did you do that?" he asked.
"Yup." Jeremie nodded as Ulrich and Yumi followed up from behind.
"…Did you just bomb the school?" Odd asked in increasing dread.
"What? No!" Jeremie replied, shaking his hands. "See, while the school's databases are well-protected, the part running the infrastructure isn't. So, I put in a time-delayed program to increase the pressure in one of the boiler lines, and…well…boom."
"…You blew up a boiler…" Odd mumbled, too shocked to scream.
"A boiler line to be precise, but yeah. That should put classes off for the day. Now come on, we're going to the factory!" Jeremie said.
"Wasn't that a little excessive?" Yumi asked as the group began to clear the field.
"Maybe, but hey, it worked!" Jeremie said.
Yumi shook her head, but didn't seem to have any further objections and so turned to Odd. "You have a skateboard, right? Grab it and come meet with us at the manhole."
"Uh, ma'am yes ma'am!" Odd said, saluting. He got the feeling that disobeying Yumi was a bad idea.
Odd's trip to the dorms went by smoothly and he quickly grabbed his board, but just before he left the room…
Hugo stalked the dorms, heading for Ulrich's room. Whatever it was that was going on, it was clear that the new kid was the weak link. He'd get him to talk. After all, for once, the height difference WASN'T much of a factor this time. He was nearly there. Just a few more turns.
"Why are we going over to Ulrich's room?" Charlie asked.
"You'll see little bro, you'll see." Hugo replied.
Odd blinked. "Crap!"
He looked around, and saw Kiwi, who yawned as he saw his owner back early. Then, the sound of voices from down the hall.
"Why are going over to Ulrich's room?" Charlie asked.
"You'll see little bro, you'll see." Hugo replied.
They were getting close. Odd had to think fast. His eyes returned to Kiwi, and he quickly scooped him up and plopped him into the hallway. Kiwi barked indignantly about being moved from his bed…only for…
"It's the puppy!" Charlie's voice blurted out.
Kiwi barked in horror, and looked at his owner, as if to ask what the hell he was doing.
"C'mon, Kiwi!" Odd ordered quietly, pointing in the direction Hugo and Charlie were coming from.
Kiwi growled, but complied and ran off. He turned a corner, and sped down the hallway, right past Hugo and Charlie. Charlie's eyes widened with glee, and he ran after Kiwi…much to his older brother's annoyance.
"Puppy!" Charlie squealed as he chased Kiwi, who barked frantically.
"Damn it Charlie, now is not the time!" Hugo yelled as he ran after the two.
Sighing in relief about the coast clearing, Odd raced in the opposite direction to get out of the dorms. Before long, he had reached the sewers, where the others were waiting for him.
"Anything happen on your way here?" Yumi asked.
"I had to sic Kiwi on that Hugo guy. He's getting REALLY suspicious about all of this." Odd explained.
"He's becoming more troublesome than I thought…" Jeremie pondered before shaking his head. "We'll deal with that problem later. For now, let's get the more pressing one dealt with."
Ulrich and Yumi nodded, with Yumi levitating Odd's skateboard into the sewers. "Let's go." She said.
And so, the four slipped into the sewers, unseen. The trip to the factory was silent, but much faster than on Sunday. They climbed up the metal ladder, crossed the bridge, opened the doors, and walked into the lobby of the massive urban laboratory. Jeremie settled down onto his chair, typed in some code, and swiveled around to meet with the others' faces.
"Alright, now then, while I'll admit I was hoping for more footage concerning Odd's training session…it's still enough to confirm my hypothesis."
Odd glared at Jeremie, "Hypothesis?! This isn't a science experiment!"
"Like I told Ulrich and Yumi, we're basically dealing with one that went out of control, but I digress." Jeremie replied, unfazed by Odd's increasing irritation. "You see, as I said before, your avatar is based off of your subconscious, and as such, so are your powers. That being said, each person virtualized is likely to have subtle differences in their psychology when they're virtualized."
Odd stared. "How does THAT solve my problem?!"
"I'm getting to that." Jeremie said. "The powers in Xanadu all seem to have something of a psionic basis due to originating from the virtualized person's mind, though how physical it gets varies from person to person based on, again, the subtle differences in their psychologies."
"So, since Ulrich and I are fighters…" Yumi said.
"Your powers would be best suited to combat." Jeremie replied to her.
"…And mine?! What's that best suited for? Freaking me out?!" Odd cried in frustration.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it responds to your mental state…" Jeremie mused, causing Odd to glare at him. "But in order for me to better understand this, I'm going to want you to train with Ulrich and Yumi in Xanadu."
"What difference is that going to make?!" Odd spat.
"Being immersed there could prove useful in helping you regain control of your powers." Jeremie answered. "It wasn't until yesterday that you started having trouble after all. If we can figure out why that happened, I'm certain that we can get this under control."
"…Yay…" Odd muttered. "There's no other way, is there?"
"Well…" Jeremie began, but Ulrich and Yumi rolled their eyes and Ulrich dragged Odd up the stairs leading to the scanners before the conversation could continue.
"Let's go." Ulrich deadpanned.
Jeremie turned back to the interface and typed in the virtualization commands. The doors of the scanner shut, and the process began.
"Scanning, Ulrich, Scanning Yumi, Scanning Odd…virtualization."
Three pillars of light flashed within Xanadu, and when they faded, the three virtual warriors stood, as ready as they could be. This time, they had been virtualized in the area where Ulrich had first seen the Sunday swarm of specters. Above them was an enormous rocky mountaintop, whose right side bore one of the large towers, and behind them was the tower that hung from the very edge of Xanadu, surrounded by a dense forest that surrounded the plain grasslands the three currently were. Smaller mountains could be seen in the distance as well, likely there to stop people from just falling off the edge of the island.
Odd stretched and took in a deep breath, taking in Xanadu's landscape. Huh…a change of scenery did feel nice after all. He felt an immense sense of calm wash over him as he took in the virtual world.
"Now then," the transmitted voice of Jeremie spoke, "Odd, let's say that a random stranger with a knife came up to you, what do you do?"
Annnd there went the calm. "Uh, run?" Odd asked. "Isn't that natural?"
"Okay, okay…good…good…" Jeremie replied, typing in some notes.
"What are you trying to get at Einstein?" Odd asked in suspicion.
"He has this idea that your power is suited more for dodging or something like that." Yumi explained. "Instead of being a direct combat power, it's closer to a tactical support one. One that can give insight to strategies, or, in a pinch, alert someone to a situation."
"…Which means?" Odd asked, still not getting it.
"If we want to train you to use your power, we need to put you in a situation where it can actually be useful…and help you get used to it." Yumi answered patiently.
"Speaking of getting used to it…" Odd muttered, looking up at the morning sky of Xanadu, "you said that you had an answer for why my powers kept on going nuts Einstein!"
"And indeed, I do." Jeremie answered. "Your power is one that seems to react to various events. So, when you were in Xanadu, it activated primarily to alert you to specter attacks, and I presume it activated several times Sunday on earth before it became a problem yesterday. Mind telling us some of these real-world visions?"
"Real-world, eh?" Odd mused. "Well, I mainly just shown ahead some conversations where Mr. Tall and Lanky and Overprotective Big Brother tried to grill me on Xanadu. Then I just redirected the conversations away. Why do you think I asked about the clubs here?"
"Ah, that makes sense. What about yesterday? When exactly did it start getting out of hand?"
So Odd explained about everything that had happened, describing each vision in as much detail as possible and the lead-ups to them. And it soon became clear just what had happened. Jeremie wrote down what Odd explained, paying careful attention to the big scene made when Odd had seemingly got insane and when he'd had a vision of a dark figure that seemed to have popped up for some strange reason.
"And now, here we are…so NOW can you finish your diagnosis, doc?" Odd asked.
"Well…the fact that you didn't die from an aneurysm is very impressive. The avatar system is very thorough when it comes to powering people up…" Jeremie replied.
"Can we not compliment the haunted death machine, please?" Odd begged.
"I'm just saying, the program takes every intricacy and potential complication with your powers into account. That's just…wow…" Jeremie noted. "But, back on topic, it does seem that the power activated at random. I'd like to say it worked in situations of high-stress, but if that were true, one vision should've led to another and gone on in a vicious cycle, OR you would've had an actual vision of me blowing up the boiler lines."
"So, it IS completely random and I'm stuck like this forever?!" Odd wailed.
"No, no, no." Jeremie explained. "That's not it at all. I said that it SEEMS random, not that it is random. Your power is the one that's most rooted in the mind, while Telekinesis and Super-Sprint require conscious usage for physical application. As such, to figure out what the pattern and activation requirements are so you can control it, you need a special training session. One where we can safely draw out that pattern."
"Which means?" Odd asked in dread.
"First," Yumi said, raising her index finger, "some meditation might do you some good. It's worked out pretty well for me and Ulrich."
"So…we're just going to be sitting down and going 'Oooooommmmm'?" Odd asked.
"Sitting down silently and concentrating actually." Ulrich clarified.
"Second," Yumi finished, raising her index and middle fingers, "you're going into that forest over there with a five-minute head-start, and then Ulrich and I are going to hunt you down."
"Five minutes?!" Odd spluttered, "Forest? Hunting me down?"
"If direct combat training won't work, we'll use guerilla combat training instead. You may have more experience with dodging and concealment than actually fighting." Yumi answered, "also, it's more like four-and-a-half now."
"So, get going." Ulrich said, clapping his hands.
"Ummm…." Odd groaned.
"I've charged up your katana and fans!" Jeremie put in cheerfully.
"Running now!" Odd cried out, making a mad dash for the forest on all fours and diving into a thicket.
"Damn it, what did I do to deserve this?" he muttered as he wove through the trees.
Odd ran until he reached a small clearing, upon which he stopped and took a deep breath, sitting down on a large rock. The forest was calm and quiet…almost too quiet, but since Xanadu had computer virus phantoms instead of birds, Odd wasn't really surprised. He had no idea how long it had taken him to get to this area, but he figured that at least half of his allotted time was gone. He was tempted to call up Jeremie, but he had a bad feeling that that would just cause him to give away his location.
"How much longer?" Ulrich asked.
"One more minute." Jeremie replied.
Odd blinked, and groaned. Another vision. At least it helped him know how long he had until he was hunted down like the animal he was somewhat dressed as. He didn't know if Jeremie had bothered to charge up his Laser Arrows, so he decided to check.
He imagined firing…concentrated, focusing on a patch of grass, and…nothing. That answered that question.
"Damn it…what am I supposed to do now?" he asked himself, looking up at the massive tower in the distance that loomed over the forest. "One-minute left before the hunters come, I've got no weapons, a power that's more unpredictable than Adele and Pauline put together, and I still look like a dorky cat-man!"
For a moment, Odd briefly considered just staying put where he was and to get the whole thing over with. This entire ordeal was getting to be a major hassle that he did NOT want to deal with. Seriously, he'd rather just dodge the whole damn thing like he did back home and…
Wait…dodge the whole damn thing…
Dodge…dodging…running…
Back home…
Right…back home…back in Palermo…Where he'd learned to hone himself…where he had to tell people that he was svelte, not scrawny, as he grew up…where he'd always had to find himself dodging things like his sister's pranks or the occasional tough guy wanting to pick a fight because he thought (Unfortunately for Odd, correctly), that he could pummel Odd.
And the other, deeper stuff that he really, really didn't want to think about right now.
He thought back to how Jeremie had told him that his power was connected to his subconscious…how Jeremie said it was rooted in the mind, and how Ulrich and Yumi trained with their powers since they had experience with actually fighting people that Odd really didn't stand much of a chance with. Then there was what he'd used the power for before it went crazy…he'd used it to avoid situations like the fatal ones in Xanadu, and the prying at school.
Then there was this entire training simulation…where Odd wasn't in much of a position to fight Ulrich or Yumi directly…not that he could take them on fair and square, but still…Yes. Yes. That was how. He wasn't supposed to fight like them, nor did he want to. He had to take them on by HIS terms…and maybe that was the key to start getting Future Flash under control!
"Thirty seconds left." Jeremie reported.
"You know where he is?" Ulrich asked.
"Yeah…but…if I told you, well…it would pretty much ruin the point of the exercise." Jeremie responded.
And there was his cue. Odd ran through the forest for a few feet, before noticing a drop on the ground and grabbed onto a tree with his claws. Sinking into the bark, they held fast…which dropped an idea into Odd's head. If the point of this whole training session was to be sneaky and dodgy…well…he'd give Ulrich and Yumi exactly that. Thoughts of pranks he'd managed to retaliate against back at home sprung to mind, and the cat quickly climbed up the tree, sneaking through the thick branches with agility that came by more naturally than ever.
Finding a well-hidden branch, Odd snuggled into the leaves, kept his breath low, and waited for the hunters.
The Samurai and the Geisha stood at the part of the forest where the Chesire Cat had run off to. Yumi motioned to Ulrich that they were to split up, and the boy nodded as they entered the forest from different angles. Ulrich kept his hand at his waist, ready to draw his sword if need be. He looked from side to side as he made his way through the trees, but saw and heard nothing.
"For a guy who talks a lot, he's become pretty quiet." Ulrich muttered to himself.
He walked slowly, the only sound being that of the grass crunching underneath his shoes. Ulrich debated on what to do next. The forest was too thick for Super-Sprint to be of any use. If he activated it, he'd have to run over to the lake, scout around it and the tower twice, and then run back into the forest where he'd have to walk again. The fact that he couldn't see Odd was disturbing. If brown or black had been the cat-boy's primary color scheme when virtualized, Ulrich would've felt more at ease since a color scheme like that would be able to blend in. Oh sure, it'd still be tense…but not surprising. A purple cat-man stood out way too much to just disappear like that.
The part of the forest Ulrich entered had trees with thick branches above him, blotting out a good portion of the sun. Expression remaining unchanged, Ulrich unsheathed his katana, the blue glow of the binary blade illuminating the trees above.
Odd had already seen Ulrich two minutes before his arrival. He slunk through the branches, and breathed deeply.
Yumi floated a closed fan frame, and telekinetically shot it up above on the branches. She was familiar enough with terrain like this to know that Odd would not be stupid to attempt a full-frontal assault unless he had decided to give up. There were two strategies available to him: First, he could dive into the lake and swim to one of the tower cables that dipped into the water, waiting to see if Yumi or Ulrich would appear at the lake border, and then swim back towards the forest to avoid the two. That strategy however, could easily be foiled by Ulrich's Super-Sprint and the lake was small enough that the two could catch Odd if he bobbed up for breath mid-swim.
So…it was unlikely that Odd would be in the lake, and if he was, she'd leave Ulrich to investigate the area if that was the case. That left the second strategy, and considering Odd's appearance and virtualized mannerisms, the more likely one. While the forest was thick, Odd was too distinct to hide on the ground. It was more than likely that he was somewhere in the trees, hence why she'd shot the fan frame, to shoo him out of the branches.
Odd blinked. Great…and here he thought Ulrich's sword would be the problem. Ulrich was closer, but Yumi seemed more likely to catch him…but…hmm.
For a moment, Odd allowed an obnoxious grin to spread on his face as a lightbulb went on in his head. Yeah…that would work.
Odd breathed as Ulrich started to come into sight. If he was too close, he'd cut the branch and catch Odd, but if he was too far, he wouldn't fall for the trap. Numerous visions flashed before Odd's eyes, each one with Ulrich at a different distance than before. Odd grit his teeth, trying to separate the visions from one another…until he saw exactly what he needed. He blinked, focused on that spot for a few seconds, before turning around juuust enough to let his tail out like a worm baiting a fish.
Ulrich saw it immediately, and sped towards Odd. Odd meowed tauntingly and jumped for the nearest branch as Ulrich rushed to cut them with his sword. He sliced through several branches, but no Odd as the cat-man jumped up further into even thicker branches further away.
"Tch. Found him Yumi!" Ulrich called, "he's in the trees!".
The voice connections were not just designed to allow for communication from the factory terminal. The group had learned that they could also be used for long-range communication with one-another. Granted, this wasn't 100% long-range, but still.
Yumi nodded, "Jeremie, where's Ulrich?"
"50 meters from where you are!" Jeremie responded.
Yumi nodded, and then ran for Ulrich.
The samurai was silent as he paced around the set of trees Odd had taken refuge in.
"Oi! Why're you still down there?" Odd's voice taunted. "Afraid of heights?"
Ulrich's eyebrow twitched, but he remained silent. He wasn't afraid of heights, he was just trying to figure out how to climb that tree while still being able to use his sword.
"I can make it easier for you!" Odd called out mockingly.
"Last I checked this whole thing was for you, dumbass!" Ulrich responded.
"Really original taunt there!" Odd called, now comfortably in his element.
Branches swayed and shook, and once again, Odd let his tail hang down like bait as he crawled through the tree-tops. "I thought you were the fast guy! Are you holding back for little old me?"
"No need to." Ulrich grumbled as he ran after Odd, who briefly gulped seeing Ulrich's natural speed…and that he saw brief glimpses of the light of super-sprint.
Great...the guy knew how to use it in short bursts. He needed to find where Yumi was…
Yumi had heard the commotion as she ran closer, and she unsheathed her fans. Already she had figured it out, she and Ulrich would hit Odd pincer-style. She'd launch her fans into the trees and cut the branches one by one and drop Odd to the ground.
Odd realized that Yumi wasn't that far away…but that Ulrich was about to catch him. They were moving into a more open area with larger gaps, giving Ulrich an opportunity to use longer activations of Super-Sprint. This was the risky part…he'd have to time it just right. Ulrich jumped, this time his slash barely missing Odd. The next few moments would decide the outcome. Odd made a left, and…yes! There was Yumi!
Ulrich jumped up, and Odd dove down next to Yumi, too low for her to use her fans. He then turned to the right as Ulrich dove down and Yumi threw her fans up in surprise. Odd ran on all fours, clear out of the way, and the two hastily disarmed themselves…and crashed on top of each other in a tangle of arms and legs.
"And that's what I call payback!" Odd declared, standing up in triumph.
Both Ulrich and Yumi were speechless, though whether or not that had to do with Odd actually managing to dodge them or because he specifically had it so that they'd tangle up with each other was unknown. Both managed to separate from each other, faces red, with Yumi coughing hurriedly as she thought of something to say.
"I-I suppose that means you're getting control of your power again?" she asked.
Odd stretched in victory. "Eeeyup! Ah…life is good again!"
But there was an indication on Jeremie's screen that indicated that life was NOT good again. A window on his computer opened, revealing a 3-D model of one of the towers. Jeremie saw a hazard symbol flash in red as the outline turned from green to red. He looked at the coordinates and pushed his glasses into place.
"I wouldn't count on that Odd." Jeremie countered. "There's trouble going on. A tower has just been accessed by the specters!"
"…Oh, come on!" Odd cried out, stamping his foot in annoyance, earning a small chuckle from Yumi and Ulrich.
"I can't believe this…" Michael Roulier grumbled as he looked at the ruptured pipe. "Ever since last month we've been having problems here and there, but this takes the cake."
"Can you at least fix it?" Delmas asked.
"It's not horribly major. I can have it fixed up by tonight and finish the job by the end of the week. Need to check on it though…" the groundskeeper muttered, wondering if the school would ever hire someone to work solely as a janitor full-time just to lighten his own load.
"Well then, very nice to know. Keep at it then." Delmas said, leaving the disgruntled groundskeeper to his work.
Meanwhile, Sebastian looked at where the explosion had been, eyes narrowed in suspicion. This was either a simple accident caused by a lack of school funding for maintenance, or having to do with the situation at hand. Honestly, Sebastian didn't know which, since both were pretty likely. The situation had already seemed to develop at a rapid pace, with the new kid clearly being stressed out about something…not to mention his little breakdown yesterday. On the one hand, it seemed easy to just corner Della Robbia and get the information he wanted…but on the other hand, Sebastian's gut was telling him to be careful. The last time he'd been blunt, Milly had given her free will up to Teddy and nearly killed him, and he didn't want to repeat that mistake, despite Hugo's increased insistence that they do something about it. He'd been ready to do some interrogation last night, but the continued presence of Yumi and Ulrich made him decide not to. There were way too many moving parts right now…
Speaking of moving parts, Sebastian noticed Hugo and Charlie not too far away, panting in exhaustion. Curious, the lanky teen approached them.
"Yo, Abels, You two okay?" Sebastian asked. "You look like you've been practicing for a marathon."
Hugo glared at Sebastian. "You know that's not it."
"The…puppy…" Charlie panted. "He… doesn't want to play with me."
"More like Odd decided to sic him on us." Hugo muttered. "I KNOW that's why he did it."
"Oh? You two know where Della Robbia is?" Sebastian asked.
"No…" Hugo grumbled darkly. "We lost track of the dog in the woods. No idea where he is."
"Bummer. We could've used him as leverage." Sebastian sighed. "I mean, I don't want to sink down to the levels of some of the creeps in the alleyways, but still."
"But still?" Hugo hissed. "Sebastian, we haven't made a single bit of progress in figuring anything out! Amare's not going to help us, and Milly and Tamiya are probably just going to publish this before we get anything done!" he clenched his fists in anger. "We're all going to die at this rate!"
Sebastian rose an eyebrow. While he would've admitted to being superstitious…even he was wondering if Hugo was starting to go a tad overboard. There hadn't been anything else like Teddy for a month now, so he didn't see the reason in actively hunting Belpois, Della Robbia, Ishiyama, or Stern down yet like Abel the Elder seemed ready to do.
"Look…I'll admit I'm as suspicious about this as you are, Abel." Sebastian said, declining to use 'the Elder' since Charlie was now playing in the track sandpit. "But you're going a tad…well…overboard."
"Overboard?" Hugo hissed, "how is this all going overboard? Odd went completely crazy yesterday! Just like how Milly did!"
Sebastian bit the inside of his cheek, mulling over that. At least Della Robbia seemed to have caught himself. However, he could also see a crazed gleam in Hugo's eyes that was…more than a tad worrying and all-too-similar to the gleam Milly's eyes once had. Best to get that under control. It would do them no good to turn as insane as Teddy in attempting to figure out what was going on.
"I swear, we're going to have try some more drastic measures…maybe I should try spreading rumors about Yumi and Ulrich to hit their focus and then corner the new kid…" Hugo muttered.
"Okay, stop right there." Sebastian said firmly. "We don't need to stoop to the level of some gossip spreader, nor should we deliberately destroy our own social circle just to get some answers. I know you're…protective Abel, but driving everyone away just for a tiny bit of info is…not what I'd consider to be an equivalent exchange."
"For the love of…." Hugo growled. "You're just as much on edge as I am! Why the hell haven't you figured anything out?! At least I'm trying to do something!"
"Because pissing them off and starting a war is such a good idea." Sebastian replied sarcastically.
"It's all I have!" Hugo said, ripping his cap off and slamming it into the ground. "How the hell else are we supposed to do anything?"
Sebastian sighed, and looked at Hugo, who lay down on the ground with a hard scowl on his face.
"It's kind of ironic, back when Teddy was killing us, you were the one holding it together, and Arendse wasn't doing all that great…and now that we DON'T have a monster coming after us, the positions have reversed." He observed.
"You got a point to make?" Hugo scowled.
"Eh…not much of one. If we're not making any progress right now…we should just hold back and wait for now. We can't force this thing, Abel, and I don't think we'll have to, the way things are developing." Sebastion responded.
"And how ARE things developing?" Hugo asked, sitting up as Sebastian sat down next to him.
"Della Robbia's having some kind of trouble, though we don't know what it is, and Belpois, Ishiyama, and Stern are on their guard because of it. And isn't it strange that they've recruited some total stranger to whatever weird secret they've got rather than tell us in the first place?" Sebastian said. "However, with the way things are playing out…we might not have to start a war of bad clichés, but just sit back and watch the train crash."
"…That's a terrible metaphor." Hugo replied. "What are you getting at, Sebastian?"
"Once the weekend starts up, I don't think we'll have to wait much longer. Things like this don't go on and on forever you know." Sebastian explained. "By Saturday, we just might see something new pop up."
"You're awfully optimistic." Hugo noted. "Who are you and what have you done with Sebastian Toup?"
"Just laying out the game plan. It won't do us any good getting stressed out about it. I've seen how things go down in the alleyways. Trust me, Abel, you don't want to see that kind of stuff." Sebastian replied.
Hugo folded his arms…but didn't seem to argue any further. Charlie ran up to the two, hands covered in sand and dirt. "Can we go now?" he asked.
"Fine." Hugo breathed.
And with that, the three left the field, though Sebastian spent a few extra seconds staring at where the steam from the boiler room had escaped, watching as Principal Delmas headed for his office. He narrowed his eyes, but turned away.
Had he kept watching for a few more seconds however, he might've noticed the door slamming shut on its own…
It was just as well, since Michael Rouiler was having a very difficult time operating the boiler lines. He had just managed to remove the damaged pipe and was looking to see if he could locate the replacement one, only to feel a slight tremor as the temperature in the room seemed to drop suddenly. The groundskeeper shivered. Ever since the Panic, the weather had seemed to have sunk into stasis, with moderate spring-early summer temperatures remaining all year 'round, with the exception of December-February, where the temperature dropped just enough to know it was winter…but still not cold enough to have an effect on the trees.
Suddenly, jets of steam burst from some other pipes, causing Michael Rouiler to shout in surprise, but just as suddenly as the jets appeared, they quickly stopped. The pipes began to tremble, and the groundskeeper immediately ran to the inner chamber where the boilers were situated. But what he found was…rather boggling, to say the least.
"What the hell?" he murmured in morbid horror.
The boilers were slowly trembling, seeming to have become unstable. Michael Rouiler looked at the pressure valves, and his jaw dropped to the ground as the needle shifted back and forth, as if the pressure was continuously changing. This should not have been possible, he'd turned off the boilers twenty minutes ago! Steam seemed to emerge from new leaks, whereas older openings that he'd patched up before had an absence of steam. It was as if the room had gained a mind of its own… either that or the groundskeeper was having a very strange dream. He pinched himself just to make sure…and found that yes, he was wide awake.
"This is bad…" he muttered, and quickly ran towards the exit to warn Jean-Pierre. Unfortunately, he found that the door was not only shut tight…but somehow locked from the outside, as opposed to the inside.
Now the groundskeeper began to panic, banging on the door, crying for help. He tried to pry it open, but to no avail. The boiler room began to fill with steam, which seemed to shape itself in demonic apparitions, or perhaps he was just seeing things from panic. Whatever the case, Michael Rouiler was now trapped in a boiler room that was viable to explode.
"HELP! HELP!" He cried, banging on the door.
But even if Sebastian Toup had stuck around for a few more seconds to see the door slam shut, or if the principal had stalled to look at his watch, none of them would've heard a peep from the now-sealed off room.
"Where's the tower located again?" Odd griped as he, Ulrich, and Yumi ran out of the forest.
"It's located further up to the East, all the way over on the other side of Xanadu." Jeremie confirmed.
"…All the way over on the other side of the island?!" Odd spluttered. "Why? How?"
"Hey, I didn't program the specters. And I don't think you'll be getting an answer out of them anytime soon."
"Great! How the hell are we supposed to get there?" Odd groaned.
"Don't worry, now that you're starting to get used to fighting in Xanadu, you should find yourself having a lot more stamina than before! You'll get there easily."
But Jeremie would have to eat his words as two specters burst from the ground and hovered above the three fighters.
"…You were saying?" Odd asked.
"Stop complaining and get them!" Yumi ordered, drawing a tessen and launching it at the monsters, who flew higher up to avoid the disc. "Oh no, you don't!" Yumi cried, activating her telekinesis and launching the fan upward. This time, the weapon found its mark, ripping one of the specters to shreds as the second one flew away at high speed.
But unbeknownst to them, two more specters were starting to emerge behind them, ready to pounce…
Odd yelped as another vision came before him, and he whipped around, firing an arrow at the emerging phantoms, blowing one up as soon as it emerged, and stunning the other one momentarily, before it flew upwards, dodging Odd's other shots, before it joined with its companion and swarmed about in the air.
"Great. How do we deal with Thing 1 and Thing 2?" Odd asked.
"They'll have to come down sometime." Yumi replied. "And we'll get them before they can get down here. Ulrich, you're the fastest, head for the tower."
Ulrich gave Yumi a curt nod, and dashed away in a trail of blue light, leaving Yumi and Odd to fight the specters. The two creatures stopped moving, and seemed to notice that Ulrich had broken off from the main group. They dashed downwards to intercept him.
Odd didn't need a vision to figure out what was going to happen next, and he immediately fired another volley of arrows. Most of the shots missed, but one found its target and killed the specter, knocking the second one off course as it flew around, trying to attack Odd in retaliation...only to be cut apart by another one of Yumi's telekinetically-enhanced fans.
"Odd, watch it, you've used up half of the ammo in both of your arms. You've only got 12 shots in your right arm, and 14 in your left." Jeremie warned.
"That's another thing to practice." Yumi noted. "Your accuracy."
"Can't you just reload me?" Odd asked.
From his monitor, Jeremie shook his head. "Not unless you run out of arrows. And even then, it'll take ten seconds…unless Yumi and Ulrich run out of energy, so then it'll take fifteen. And you never know what'll happen in those ten seconds."
"What could happen in ten seconds? I'm not seeing a lot of specters like yesterday." Odd noted.
"It's easier to hit targets when they're crowding around instead of being scattered all over the place." Yumi pointed out. "You'll notice that I only needed one shot from one fan."
She accentuated the point by revealing that the fan she had thrown had been hovering around her ever since the battle hand begun, but at that moment Yumi placed it back in her hand and folded it.
"Wouldn't that just drain out energy or something?" Odd asked.
"It limits THROWS." Jeremie pointed out. "Until the fan goes back to her hand, it still counts as being thrown."
"But it does tax Telekinesis." Yumi revealed.
"Oh…huh…well, that's an interesting loophole, so what now?" Odd asked again.
"We keep on going." Yumi ordered, and the two began to go forwards, until…
"Um…warning about what's up ahead." Jeremie warned.
Odd and Yumi looked on as a dark presence loomed over them, seeing a large specter hover over them like a thundercloud while five smaller specters flew around it. Odd's eyes widened in dread at the opponent in front of him.
"…And this is an example of Quality over Quantity." Yumi explained.
"Yeah, the big scary guy leading his gang of wimps." Odd deadpanned in spite of himself.
"You want me to come back?" Ulrich asked, halfway across the island.
"No, keep up what you're doing." Jeremie ordered. "Get to the tower and take care of the specters there."
"Wonder how many there'll be today." Ulrich grumbled.
Around the tower, eight specters swarmed around it, all of them at normal size. They clung to it like caterpillars on a leaf, not planning on letting go anytime soon.
Odd blinked again from his vision. "Eight." He murmured.
"What?" Ulrich asked from the other end.
"There's eight of them. 'Bout the same size as Mr. Big-Shot's cronies over here." Odd confirmed.
"Yeah, I can take them." Ulrich said.
"Don't go getting cocky on us, Ulrich!" Yumi griped, though she got no response from the samurai.
"So…" Odd ventured.
"We kill these things and make sure Ulrich doesn't end up as Specter chow." Yumi growled.
Once again, Odd made a note to NOT get on Yumi's bad side. He almost felt bad for the specters as she unfolded her fans. Almost. Either case, first things first, deal with Monstro and his fellow whales.
"YAHH!" Odd cried out, firing at the lead specter, whose large size made it a very easy target…
And at the same time, a very difficult one to bring down. Like a swarm of bees versus a grizzly bear, the specter shrugged off the attacks despite most of them hitting. It wasn't long before Odd found that he was no longer shooting darts from his wrist, and he gulped as he saw that his attack had had no effect at all.
"Odd, I don't want to be that guy…but you just ran out of ammo." Jeremie said.
"Thanks for the obvious, Einstein! Now reload me!" Odd panicked.
"Coming up!" Jeremie confirmed.
"Now you'll get to see what'll happen in ten seconds." Yumi grunted, unfolding both fans as she watched the specters move about.
The larger specter hovered higher into the air, leaving the remaining five on the attack. And attack they did. Yumi launched a fan at them, but the specters quickly flew out of the way, flying as fast as Ulrich with Super-Sprint to dodge the attack. Undeterred, Yumi threw her second fan, which once again, the specters managed to dodge. However, she had kept an eye for one of them, and focused her fans so that they would circle around a specter that had distanced itself from the group. She was just about to attack it, but…
As Odd waited for Jeremie to reload him, he heard a whirling noise…and saw yet another specter strike at him. Odd dodged it in time…but had left Yumi wide open to attack as the darkness completely immersed her.
Odd spun around and saw the ambusher just in time.
"CRAP!" He yelled, causing Yumi to break her focus and her fans to fall to the ground as the specter rammed Odd.
It was perhaps one of the most physically painful experiences in Odd's entire life. Touching the specter felt like hugging fiberglass, and the creature's constantly shifting form didn't make it any less pleasant. Odd clawed at the monster, desperately trying to hold it back…but it was much stronger than Odd was and forced him to the ground. Yelling, Odd kept on clawing the creature, which, thankfully, seemed to slow it down.
Yumi grunted, but saw the other specters dive towards her. She quickly somersaulted out of the way from one attack, and cartwheeled away from another. Quickly, Yumi's eyes darted around the field, looking for her fans. She saw their blue glow amidst a bush, and telekinetically shot them back into her hands. A third specter charged at her…only to be met with her fans and shredded apart.
"Odd, you're reloaded!" Jeremie called out.
"YAHHHHH!" Odd cried in a panic, punching the specter and shooting at it.
The specter groaned in pain from the burst of blue energy and collapsed into particles.
Another specter had seen Odd's escape and dashed at him.
"NO! NO! NO!" Odd screeched, flipping around and unloading Laser Arrows at the specter, blowing it to pieces.
Odd panted from the horrible experience as Yumi backflipped towards him.
"And that's what could happen in ten seconds." She said grimly.
"Point…ah…ha…Taken." Odd wheezed.
The three other specters stared down at Odd and Yumi, then looked up at the larger one that still seemed to be deciding on what to do. For a moment, all was quiet aside from Odd's gasping for air. Then the three specters opened their maws and roared, flying down towards Odd and Yumi. Their apparent leader now took the opportunity to begin moving again, hovering more directly at the battlefield.
"Eeeeyah!" Yumi cried, throwing a fan at a specter, which dodged the attack.
"Take this, you jerks!" Odd hissed, firing a Laser Arrow at another one, but only grazing it. Still, the arrow exploded, which knocked the specter off-course, but wasn't enough to actually destroy it.
Like sharks, the three specters circled around their prey, growling and snarling. Odd didn't know if they had any actual tongues or teeth, but the black shapes that appeared seemed to reveal rows and rows of the latter. And the noise…it was like an unholy combination between a dying animal and a loud, blaring blowhorn. Odd's ears twitched in pain and goosebumps ran up Odd's spine from having to listen to it.
"Do they always do that?" Odd asked.
"Not very much." Yumi admitted. "First time I've seen them act so vicious…well…relatively speaking."
"Like I said, things are getting more intense." Jeremie put in.
"Great, things are getting harder! What's next?!" Odd complained.
As soon as Odd asked the question, the three specters dashed at him and Yumi. Despite their more ferocious appearance, defeating them was pretty easy. Then, like a gargantuan anvil, the larger specter slammed right on top of them, instantly killing the two.
"Annnd I just got another vision of us dying!" Odd panicked as the three specters dashed at him and Yumi.
"And that vision is?" Yumi asked, sounding disturbingly more curious than afraid as her fans finally destroyed two of the specters.
"Look up above!" Odd cried out, trying to shoot the big specter, but the last of the smaller ones got in the way and was destroyed instead.
"Look up…above…?" Yumi asked, fans returning to her hands and folding as their interiors broke down, before seeing a massive black shadow cover the field. "Oh."
Thrusting her arms upwards, Yumi applied her telekinesis with as much force as possible to arrest the speed of the descending specter. The monster's attack began to slow, and it roared as Yumi seemed to be stopping it. Odd watched as the monster's immense maw opened, and found that the larger version of the specters' mouths was far more terrifying.
"Odd…" Yumi grunted. "I'd…appreciate it…if you…can destroy this thing before I run out of energy."
"Last time I fired at the stupid thing, it just shrugged them off!" Odd protested.
"Just…DO IT!" Yumi yelled in an authoritative voice, struggling against the creature's weight and force.
Odd grimaced, but aimed at the monster, letting loose whatever ammo he had left. This time, his attacks seemed to have some effect, being launched into the monster's open mouth. The immense specter roared in pain, but then closed its mouth before Odd could pull off another strike. Still though, it seemed that Odd's attacks were still doing more damage than before, as a noise resembling moaning emanated from the specter. It continued to struggle against Yumi's telekinetic grip…and at last broke free, and flew up into the air once again.
Yumi gasped and fell onto the ground, panting. "That…that took a lot out of me."
"I'm reloading you now, Yumi." Jeremie said grimly.
"How many arrows do I have?" Odd asked.
"11 left in your right arm, 12 in your left arm." Jeremie said.
"Great…" Odd groaned, looking at the enduring monster. "How am I supposed to kill this thing? It's shrugged everything off!"
"No…your previous attacks did affect it...though it had enough mass to shrug it off. Hitting it in the center seems to have weakened it, though I doubt it'll give you that kind of chance again." Jeremie said.
"Which basically means we're back to square one!" Odd complained. "This is great, just great, Yumi's down, Ulrich can't help us, and Mr. Big-Dark-And-Scary is still on his A-game!"
"Odd…" Yumi panted, but it seemed that Odd was still wanting to vent.
"This is great, just great! A simple training session supposed to get my powers under control goes completely out of hand, and we're pretty much dead! I mean…how the hell am I supposed to take that thing down?! This is it! We're dead! Three days in my new neighborhood, and I'm going to die! That's it, Game Over! We're-"
"ODD!" Yumi shouted, causing Odd to freeze.
"…Okay, do you feel better now?" she asked, being reminded of Hiroki's temper tantrums.
"…A little." Odd admitted.
"Good." Yumi replied, looking up to see that the larger specter had shrunk down somewhat, and was now circling. "Now then, since we've come here, you've managed to use your power in a more useful manner, right?"
"Well, yeah…I mean, it's not getting out of hand." Odd said. "I mean, it only turns on whenever something about to kill us happens…"
"Sure…and no, things aren't out of hand. We only have one more specter to deal with…ow…" Yumi panted, trying to get up, but a sudden headache from overexertion took over and she kneeled back down to steel herself. "Well, you only have one more specter to deal with now. Don't know how Ulrich's doing."
"Actually, I think he's almost done with them." Jeremie said, looking at another screen.
"Good, so he's not being killed for being an idiot." Yumi nodded. "We're not going to die here, and I think you can manage that and take that monster down."
"How?" Odd asked. "It's like you said, SUPPORT power, that's what mine is! And that thing's…well…a little smaller now, but how am I supposed to take it out?"
Yumi breathed to get her strength back, a plan forming in her head. "That…that's something you'll have to think of. If your power can help us avoid bad outcomes…no point in seeing how it can tell us about good ones."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Odd asked, "what, do you want me to do something to get that thing's attention?"
Yumi nodded.
"…Why didn't you just say so?!" Odd asked, bewildered.
"You were whining like my little brother like this one summer when his umbrella broke apart because he kept on swinging it during a rainstorm and it smacked right into the wind." Yumi deadpanned. "Figured that I might as well give you a pep-talk."
The look on Odd's face was priceless, though Yumi didn't let her amusement at it show.
Odd sighed, and looked at the specter. He had to get this right…
Odd fired…but the explosion didn't even get close enough and the monster kept on circling.
Odd fired…but hit the monster's tail and caused it to retreat…right in the direction where Ulrich had gone.
Odd fired, but was at the wrong angle and didn't even come close to the monster.
Odd turned around and spanked his butt at the monster in an attempt to taunt it.
'GAH!' Odd thought. 'No, no, no! Not like that! Make a good outcome! Find the right one! Figure out how to cause it!'
He breathed, and aimed. He had to think about which of the choices thrown in front of him that he had to take. He narrowed his eyes until he could see his wrist overlap with the specter. He kept his body as rigid as possible, and waited for the right moment. If he missed, there was a chance that the specter could retreat and go after Ulrich, meaning that he could get killed like Yumi said.
Odd took a deep breath…waited…waited…then…right where it would go next!
Odd fired.
The Laser Arrow shot high into the air, meeting right where the Specter's next fly-through would be, hitting it dead-center in, well, the closest thing it HAD to a head. The explosion caused the specter to convulse, but it still wasn't dead. It looked down at Odd, and twitched, as if it was furious at being hit again.
Odd couldn't help himself, he turned around and spanked his butt at the monster, taunting it.
"NYAH, NYAH, NY-NY-NYAH!" Odd called.
The specter was still…and then it roared and dashed at Odd at a speed Odd didn't think a monster that size was capable of. Odd's eyes widened as he deeply began to regret that decision and he ran as fast as his four limbs could carry him.
"C-Can't you guys take a joke?" Odd asked.
The specter roared, as if to say 'No'. It was now right on top of Odd, opening its mouth wide open to eat him, having enough mass to resist another explosion…only to roar in pain as Yumi's fans ground right into it. Odd fell to the ground, and by instinct, unloaded every arrow he had left into the weakening specter. It now roared in pain as Odd's arrows burst into its body, and Yumi's fans struck it again. Odd watched as the monster shuddered violently. It turned, preparing to attack the now-defenseless Odd…but was hit with a third throw of Yumi's fans, which cut right through the monster on both the initial throw and the return trip.
Finally, the specter was dead.
Odd took in deep breaths. He felt like sweating bullets, and shakily got up. Yumi too, panted heavily, rubbed her forehead, and looked to where Ulrich had gone.
"Is that it?" The geisha asked.
Jeremie looked at the screen. "Just one more left."
Ulrich stood before the last specter, standing in an In No Kamae stance…and dashed towards the specter, who tried desperately to get away from Ulrich, but to avail. The samurai jumped atop the specter, which was flying up the slope…and cut it in half.
"Alright!" Jeremie cheered, watching as the notification screen changed status and closed. The attack was over.
Michael Rouiler took a rag from his pocket and wiped his face. He trudged through the steam, and the continuing extreme shifting of temperature in the boiler room. He staggered to the lower level, watching the pressure gauge head towards critical, and put a finger to his neck to check his pulse. So this was what waiting for death was like. A slow, calming sensation as the steam disappeared and the gauge returned…to…normal…
…Wait, what?
Michael Rouiler blinked and saw that the gauge had returned to normal and that the steam was gone. The temperature of the room had returned to normal, as if nothing had happened! He quickly ran for the door…and found that it was open again.
"…I need a vacation." Michael Rouiler grumbled as he went back to work.
Odd took a long, long drink of cold water from a bottle kept in the mini-fridge. The attack was over, and he could finally relax.
"So…no more visions?" Yumi asked.
"None for now!" Odd cheered wearily.
Ulrich nodded silently, a towel over his neck as he wiped away the sweat.
"Well…this is a good first step!" Jeremie said, swiveling around his chair.
"First step?" Odd asked, before reconsidering. "Wait, no, scratch that…there's gonna be more of this, right? Never mind."
"You figured out that you'll have to come here again and get proper real-world training?" Ulrich deadpanned.
"Just don't punch like before, and we'll be just fine." Odd breathed as he got up.
Suddenly, there was a faint barking noise from outside the factory. Odd's ears perked up and he turned to the entrance.
Kiwi scratched at the factory doors, barking for his owner.
"Wait, Kiwi!" Odd cried, running for the door…and tripping over a large pipe and falling flat on his face.
"I'll get it." Ulrich said, rushing to the entrance and opening it, causing the small dog to bound into the factory and eagerly lick his owner's face.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Odd laughed in spite of himself, picking Kiwi up, who barked at him. "You managed to throw those brothers off, didn't you!"
Kiwi barked again, in the affirmative.
"He got away from them, huh?" Jeremie asked. "Huh…guess he's not as dumb as he looks."
"KIWI THROW!" Odd announced, launching Kiwi at Jeremie, who flayed his arms helplessly as Kiwi landed atop of him, barking all the while.
"Like I said, he's mean!" Odd laughed, louder this time, with Yumi chuckling, while Ulrich rolled his eyes.
The rest of the day proceeded relatively smoothly. Odd's visions had fallen down sharply, and the rapid bombardment gone. He felt a calm that he hadn't felt for what seemed like ages…even though it had only lasted a day…eh, disregarding the home situation. That wasn't important. Never was. Never would be.
…And no visions on that, great!
So, with nothing else to report, with even the Paparazzi and Sebastian not seeming suspicious (Though, Odd swore that Hugo kept on glaring at him), Odd could go to sleep with a light heart. Though, just before he went to sleep, Odd snapped a picture of the…whatever-it-was with his phone, since Jeremie expressed interest in studying the drawing.
As Odd sent the picture and snuggled into bed, the thought of the subject of that drawing becoming important crossed his mind…but no…it couldn't be important. Wasn't now, hopefully wouldn't be, and there were no visions on that, great!
Yawning contently, Odd Della Robbia went to sleep.
It…it was really over, wasn't it? This was it. This was what losing truly felt like.
Despite their best efforts…they had failed. Nothing they did could even put a scratch on her. She was too strong. And so, what was happening now because of that failure? Now the sky was full of nothing but clouds of grey and black, with eerie white moon-like light shining down, casting a glow that seemed to heighten the darkness instead of lessening it. Everything below them now matched the chaotic void that the islands sprung from. The structures had finished assembling themselves, and now, above them directly, on top of the tenth and tallest tower that rose above all of the others in that world, including the other islands, was an enormous gateway, sundering the sky where the sun and the moon had once been. What lay beyond it, he did not want to find out.
And as if to taunt them, the four who had challenged her: The Samurai, the Geisha, the Chesire Cat, and the Lost Boy; the Grim Reaper loomed above them, arms and wings spread out wide, scythe reflecting the unsettling light, knowing that she had triumphed.
She lowered her face at him, as if she was about to speak…but just as she made eye contact with him…nothing filled his field of vision.
Nothing…
Nothing…
Nothing…
Nothing but white, no matter where he looked.
Nope! Nothing ominous here! I mean, what's the chances of all of these dreams playing a role in this story?
Hopefully the next chapter will not take so long! (And it shouldn't...shouldn't be that short). Might even finish that before going back to Omen. Ah, the joy of big projects.
*Remembers that he has summer classes*
...Eh...
Ta-ta!
-Epsilon Tarantula-
